Complications
by BobWhite
Summary: Ruthie's friend is in dire need of a heart transplant or she will die.
1. My Life Before

_This chapter will be told as if Ruthie tells her after she wakes up in the hospital._

**My Life Before:**

I had skipped so many classes just because I didn't want to go to school. But now I was in trouble of failing my sophomore year at Glenoak High School. So my parents made a deal with the principal. If I went to school everyday, no matter what happened, I would be able to pass sophomore year. But nobody was expecting me to nearly drop dead. My parents said I'd always had a very rare heart condition. And if I didn't have much stress in my life, I'd be fine. But my heart decided to kick out on me at the last second. I would not be passing 10th grade this year. I may not even be graduating from high school.

I had made friends with Ruthie Camden and she had been helping me catch up on all the school work that I had missed while I was skipping classes. We always had a fun time together. But on the day of our biggest test of the year, I failed to show up for school. Ruthie called my house and cell before and after class. When she didn't get an answer for the tenth time, she had Martin drive her over to my house. What they found made everyone think twice about leaving me home alone, ever again.

They knocked on the front door for like ever, and then tried the door knob. The door was unlocked. They pushed open the door and went to my room to see if I was still sleeping. I wasn't there. Martin looked in my parent's room & bathroom while Ruthie looked in my bathroom. Her scream brought Martin to my bathroom and me to semi-consciousness. I moaned and Ruthie bent down to feel my pulse. Martin looked at her and then picked me up. They headed out the door and to his car. Ruthie got in the back seat and Martin laid me down, my head in Ruthie's lap. Then he got in the driver's seat and sped for the hospital.

Kevin & Roxanne were out patrolling the area around the hospital when they saw Martin's car go speeding towards the hospital. By the look of it, they had skipped school to go to the hospital. Or it was definitely an emergency. They turned on their sirens and sped after Martin, who didn't stop for them. Martin saw the lights and continued on to the hospital. Once there, he parked the car, got out, opened the passenger door, picked me up, Ruthie got out, and they ran to the Emergency Room.

Kevin & Roxanne pulled up right as Ruthie got out of the car, her face pale as a sheet. They went into the hospital after Martin & Ruthie disappeared through the doors.


	2. Hospitalization

_The character is writing and not talking. All numbers are fake!_

**Hospitalization:**

I remember being put on a soft bed, my mouth being opened, someone asking if I knew my name, Ruthie & Martin being pushed out of the Trauma Room, then feeling my heart stop, feeling them giving me CPR, feeling the air being blown into my lungs, feeling them shock me with the defibrillator, then nothing. I wasn't in any pain, but it was like I was floating. I was able to look down upon the doctors & nurses working on me. I saw Ruthie, Martin, Kevin & Roxanne standing outside the doors watching the doctors & nurses.

When I got back to my body, the doctors yelled out "we've got a pulse!" Then I remember some kind of tube being put down my throat and then not being able to talk. I woke up then; my eye lids only open a sliver. I saw one nurse looking at me, trying to get me to open my eyes further. I was in too much pain, but I couldn't cry out because of the tube that was down my throat. I finally opened my eyes all the way and started motioning with my hands; I wanted something to write with.

They gave me a pad of paper and a pen. I wrote:

_Call my mom's cell: (987)-325-4465_

_Call my dad's cell: (435)-665-9537_

_Call my doctor: (435)-369-8672_

_Someone feed my pets!_

The nurse asked if my friends and the police could come in. I only nodded. I was too weak to do anything else. They let Ruthie, Martin, Kevin & Roxanne in and Ruthie started talking.

"I was afraid you'd slept in, and on such a major test in math. You've been working so hard not to pass the tenth grade."

I wrote: _I may not be passing the tenth grade let alone graduating._

"What are you talking about? You're going to pass the tenth grade & you're going to graduate high school," Martin said.

I wrote: _My doctor said that if this ever happened I wouldn't be getting out of the hospital unless I died. I have a rare heart condition. The only way I would end up back in the hospital is if my heart was ready to explode. That's what it felt like this morning when I collapsed on the bathroom floor. It felt like my heart was ready to explore._

"Is there a cure for this?" Roxanne asked.

I wrote: _No, not that anyone knows about._

"So what would happen in this case?" Kevin asked.

I wrote: _I would need a heart transplant. And even then, I would have to stay in the hospital until I got one, which could be days, weeks, months, even years. I've been on the transplant list for ages. I can't remember when I didn't have to go to the hospital._

"Hang in there Rodeo. You're not leaving us today. You have high school to graduate, maybe even college." Ruthie said.

I wrote: _I won't be going to college, no matter what! I'm tired. Wake me up when my parents get here. And Ruthie, do you think your parents would mind taking care of two pot belly pigs and a Cockatoo?_

"I don't think they'd mind. But I'll ask them. And I'll help take care of them for you."

I wrote: _Thanks, thanks for finding me. I don't know how long I could have held on if you hadn't found me when you did. Thanks for skipping school for me._

"No problem. However I think we may get into trouble for skipping school." Martin said.

"Not if we have anything to say about it. I think a talk from two police officers to your parents and the principal will change their minds about punishing you two. And Rodeo, I doubt the principal will mind if you don't show up for school the remainder of the year, as long as you do your homework that Ruthie & Martin bring by for you."

I wrote: _I could do that. It's not like there's anything to do here in the hospital hooked up to a ventilator. HeHe!_


End file.
